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Penguins Weekly: Player nicknames help with team bonding, communication

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Penguins' Andrey Pedan (3) is more affectionately known as "Peds" on the ice and in the dressing room. The team uses nicknames to improve camaraderie and communication.

Penguins head coach Clark Donatelli is more commonly referred to as "Clarky" by team players and staff.

WILKES-BARRE — If someone addressed you by your first name at home, on the job or pretty much anywhere, you’d most likely think nothing of it.

Unless, of course, you’re a member of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Or any hockey team for that matter.

“Usually, when you call someone by their first name, it feels like an accident,” forward Garrett Wilson said after a team practice last week. “You’re like, ‘Oh, what am I doing?’

“And when someone calls you by your first name, it sounds weird. You’re like, ‘What? No one calls me that.’”

Amid the bevy of hockey’s unwritten traditions, rituals and superstitions (remember to not step on the logo!), the use of nicknames as a primary form of identification is one of the most pervasive at all levels of the sport. The ice surface and dressing rooms of Mohegan Sun Arena and the Toyota SportsPlex are no exceptions.

For the Penguins, the practice serves both practical and psychological purposes. While it’s primarily used to emphasize the almost familial bond among teammates and coaches, it can also provide a competitive advantage during games.

Unlike in decades past, when such gems as “Rocket” Richard, “Toe” Blake and “Boom Boom” Geoffrion were commonplace in the hockey world, most of today’s nicknames are much more subtle.

At least for the Penguins, the formula is pretty straightforward. The vast majority are modifications of a player’s or coach’s first or last name, usually ending in -y, -s or -er.

So, Jarred Tinordi and Kevin Spinozzi are shortened to “Tinner” and “Spinner,” respectively. Kevin Czuczman and Wilson become “Czuczy” and “Willy,” while Andrey Pedan and Ryan Haggerty are more commonly known as “Peds” and “Haggs.”

There’s also the occasional combination of initials, such as “TK” for captain Tom Kostopoulos.

The connection may not seem obvious, but the repetition of using such nicknames can lead to better communication during play.

“When you’re on the ice and you hear your nickname called, guys on other teams don’t know your nickname,” Wilson explained. “So, when you get called, you know it’s your teammate calling for the puck and stuff like that. You get used to hearing guys’ voices.”

It can work the same way on the bench with rolling lines and passing along instructions.

The coaching staff does it as well if the situation is appropriate, such as when assistant Tim Army draws out a set play on the dry-erase board at practice. Disobey their orders, though, and they are more liable to use actual names to get their point across.

In any case, they fully buy into the team-building aspect that nicknames can provide.

“I think that’s part of the team concept and the camaraderie of the guys,” Penguins head coach Clark Donatelli added. “It’s a lot of fun, and a lot of times (a nickname) sticks with you.”

As a rule of thumb, a player doesn’t actually get to choose his own nickname. In most cases, a teammate will casually introduce one and the rest may quickly adopt it, depending on how catchy it is.

Additionally, players can’t veto a nickname they don’t like. As Wilson explained, their teammates are more likely to use it anyway if they know it elicits some sort of noticeable reaction.

Some can be downright humorous, maybe more so to the people dishing them out.

“I enjoy it when guys get a nickname that has nothing to do with their last name,” Wilson said. “Once I played with a guy who looked like Woody from ‘Toy Story,’ so we called him ‘Woody’ all the time.

“Czuczman, his nickname is ‘Rockpile’ or ‘Cementhead,’ one or the other. Those are good ones that are starting to stick, so it’s pretty funny to see that.”

No matter the level of originality, though, each nickname brings team members closer together.

“It’s just an easy way for guys to get to talk with each other,” forward Pat McGrath said. “Everybody has a different one, but it’s pretty cool. It’s unique.”

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